Ireland’s two largest conservative parties battled it out yesterday in a
by-election count which saw the left-wing vote decimated and Fine Gael
ultimately hold onto a seat thanks to a wave of sympathy for a grieving
daughter.

There were howls of derision when it was announced that the Labour
candidate had secured below 5% of the vote. The result has increased
pressure on Labour leader Eamon Gilmore to abandon his party’s coalition
with Fine Gael.

As was widely predicted, the election became a two horse race between
Fine Gael and a resurgent Fianna Fail. In the end, however, sympathy
among both political supporters and opponents ensured Mr McEntee’s
daughter retained her father’s seat for Fine Gael.

She won 38.5% of the first preference vote (to 32.9% for Fianna Fail)
and the lion’s share of second preferences, securing her seat on the
third count with the help of Sinn Fein transfers.

The late Fine Gael Minister of State Shane McEntee died tragically by
his own hand in December, paving the way for the poll in a constituency
now dominated by Dublin’s commuter belt.

Labour were the clear victims of the byelection, beaten into 5th place
by Sinn Fein and the little known ‘Direct Democracy Ireland’ party. They
secured only 4.6% of the vote, compared to 13% for Sinn Fein and 6.5%
for DDI.

After an early appearance at the count centre, Minister for
Communications and Labour TD Pat Rabbitte faced a barrage of questions
from journalists over their disastrous performance.

He said Labour had “taken the brunt of the negative reaction. Labour
voters didn’t come out. They are making a protest. We have to listen to
what they’re saying, but we inherited the biggest mess left to a
government since 1922,” he said.

He played down the growing expectation that his party could soon be
facing the same fate as the Green Party, the junior coalition partners
in the previous government who were wiped out at the last general
election.

While rumours of a heave against the Labour leadership immediately
gained traction, previous mutterings among the party’s ‘traditional’
wing have also failed to see any result.

SF SATISFIED

Despite the surge of support for the two main conservative parties, Sinn
Fein were not entirely displeased at securing third place, increasing
their first preference vote from 8.9% in 2011 to 13%.

Up-and-coming candidate Darren O’Rourke could well fancy his chances of
a seat in the next election. Party leader Gerry Adams said O’Rourke had
secured a clear third place in the three-seat constituency “from a
standing start”.

He said he did not think Fine Gael could “take succour” from the vote,
given the circumstances in which the byelection took place.

“We’re very, very, very satisfied with the vote that we took. This is
the largest vote that we have ever taken in this constituency,” Mr Adams
said.

Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald said Labour’s poor result was what happens
when “promises are made and broken”.

Heavy snowfalls and unseasonally cold weather contributed to a low
turnout, with only 38% per cent of eligible constituents voting, a
record low for the constituency. But anecdotal evidence also suggested a
high level of frustration at the choice of parties available, as
evidenced by the sizable vote for the maverick ‘Direct Democracy
Ireland’ group.

DDI’s main goals are to hold a referendum to “re-introduce” provisions
for direct democracy (government by direct public vote) into the Irish
constitution, as well as to suspend the terms of the bailout of the
26-County by the EU and the IMF.

Candidate Ben Gilroy said he has delighted to beat “one of the big four”
in contesting an election for the first time “in front of the people”.
He said his party was now planning a national recruitment drive to place
candidates in constituencies across the State.

The following is a full breakdown of the vote (and the change from the
general election in 2011 in brackets):

We have a favour to ask

We want to keep our publication as available as we can, so we need to ask for your help. Irish Republican News takes time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe it makes a difference.
If everyone who reads our website helps fund it, our future would be much more secure.

For as little as £1, you can support Irish Republican News – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.